Learning from Friends Who Help Others: Hot Cocoa for Charity

When my eldest was two years old, I made a friend at her pre-school that I will have for life, Elisa Greenberg. Our friendship is as genuine as it gets and I learn so much from her as a person and as a mother.

It was right around that time when our kids were wee small that she started having an annual hot chocolate and sweet fundraiser in her garage, raising money for important causes. She’s the type of mom who wants to teach her kids about giving back, and thus this annual tradition began.

It started small. A group from our pre-school and friends from her neighborhood would come out on that afternoon, year after year, to show support and the Greenbergs would raise $100-$200 for charity. It was impressive and I have tried to replicate their efforts and have lemonade stands over the years following in her footsteps to raise money for the victims in Japan and Parkinson’s Disease, but my efforts have never amounted to as much. So, when they started getting publicity in the local newspapers, I knew they were onto something.

Last year the stand got bigger, and I wasn’t surprised at all. They moved it into a local ice-cream store in Scarsdale and raised over $2,000 for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. The young mastermind behind the event, Evan Greenberg (my friend’s son), began to take the event very seriously and he and his parents garnered a wide range of sports memorabilia to raffle off, turning into this into something bigger than life and very important to him and his younger brother, Joshua.

The raffle will include both sports memorabilia and other donated wares. The memorabilia includes two signed posters of Darryl Strawberry and merchandise from the Giants, Jets, Yankees and Mets, game tickets and even a box of Fenway dirt. Evan has personally selected items of importance to him and ones that will make a difference in the amount of money they make.

If you live far away, you can buy virtual cups of cocoa through the Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s website.

So, if you live in or near Scarsdale, join me in supporting this fantastic effort and come watch a little boy who is smart and ambitious enough to try to change the world to be a better place for all of us.